


Buckets and Spades

by Daxii



Category: Free!
Genre: Dorks, Gift Exchange, M/M, cinema trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 19:37:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5598289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daxii/pseuds/Daxii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagisa and Rin cosy up in the cinema, bonding over popcorn, while Haru and Sousuke just try not to be too awkward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Buckets and Spades

**Author's Note:**

  * For [witchy_alien](https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchy_alien/gifts).



Haru rolls his eyes towards the window as he gradually becomes less and less tolerant of Nagisa vibrating with excitement in the seat next to him. It's made even worse by the rattle of the old train. He's starting to wish he'd just stayed in bed.

Rin is there to meet them at the station, rocking back and forth on his heels and shifting his toothy smirk into a full grin when Nagisa starts waving at him through the window as they roll in. He grabs Haru's wrist to pull him along before the train has even stopped moving, towing him to the door and impatiently pressing the button to open it before the light flashes. Rin finally stands still and Haru recognises Sousuke glancing up from under his baseball cap, sitting on the bench next to Rin. He looks up and mutters something, one of those silly jokes that makes Rin simultaneously laugh out loud and kick Sousuke in the knee. Probably something offensive. Or stupid. Or both.

They disembark and Nagisa finally lets him go, leaving him to play catch up in the swarm of people on the platform to reach Rin and Sousuke. As Haru maneuvers around the people and gets to his friends, he's witness to Nagisa leaping up to latch onto Rin's torso in greeting, and hears Rin's laugh as he catches him.

He gets another accidental glance at Sousuke, who's observing the scene with the same expression that Haru's feeling, and then catches his eye too. Haru chances a smile, just a little upturn of the side of his mouth, and he's glad to see Sousuke return it. Good. He doesn't want to have to rebuild that ground again.

"Sou-chan, too!" Nagisa demands, dropping back to his feet and wrapping his arms around Sousuke's waist.

"Where are the others?" Rin asks Haru, greeting him with a much more subdued quick squeeze with one arm, which Haru's feeling companionable enough to return.

"Makoto had to watch the twins and Rei has some family thing. So it's just us," Haru explains.

"Like a double date!" Nagisa chimes, still snuggling Sousuke.

"Yeah... except none of us are dating," Rin snorts. "But come on, I wanna get a good seat!"

The sidewalk is only rather narrow and both Haru and Sousuke end up hanging back to let the more excitable two walk together in front. They try a tiny smile again. It'll do.

Nagisa, of course, wants sweet _and_ salted popcorn, so they order a large box of each to split between the four of them, giving each other change to even out the costs.

"So Nagisa has to sit in the middle, hmm?" Sousuke comments as the ticket-checker tears their stubs and they go to find the door of their theater.

"Haru likes sweet, right? And I want salted, so he can just sit between us," Rin says, sounding very authoritative and captain-esque. Haru suppresses his smile and shrugs.

"But I want sweet too," Sousuke frowns.

"You'll just have to sit on Haru's other side, then! He doesn't bite!"

Haru wishes he had teeth like Rin's, just to bare them when Sousuke glances at him again.

"Right," Sousuke huffs.

Haru is glad to have the popcorn bucket in his lap, if only to save him from Nagisa's tendency towards slowly leaning sideways to rest on someone during a movie. Rin can have that honour today. Those two are always too clingy for their own good as it is.

 

After Nagisa's third fistful of popcorn is inhaled into his mouth within a second, Rin grabs his wrist and extracts the box with his other hand, placing it out of Nagisa's reach on the empty seat next to him.

"Don't eat it all in the trailers!" he scolds. "It's a three hour movie!"

Nagisa pouts and slumps into him, rubbing his forehead into Rin's shoulder. Rin tuts and pulls his arm away, using it to trap Nagisa in a light headlock and tussles with him until Haru slowly leans forwards with this _look_ that stills the both of them into stifled giggles, but Rin obediently releases Nagisa's neck. The movie is starting so Nagisa is happy to have his bucket back anyway. Rin takes his own handful and crosses his legs to get comfortable.

Nagisa's pace of eating slows to pulling popcorn out piece by piece, chewing slowly with his eyes wide and fixated on the screen. Rin finds himself paying more attention to him than to the film. There's something endearing about seeing him so fascinated and enraptured, robotically moving his hand down to the popcorn and back up to his mouth. Wanting another handful, Rin tries to time his reach so he won't interrupt Nagisa's ritual.

He fails, his little finger brushing against Nagisa's hand with a feather light touch, but still Nagisa jumps with the shock, head jerking towards Rin and a gasp escaping him.

Rin smiles. "It's just me," he whispers.

Nagisa nods, but he loops his little finger around Rin's, but feeling a little guilty, Rin takes it a step further and laces their fingers to squeeze his hand wholly, and then slides past to retrieve the popcorn he wanted in the first place. They both turn back to the screen after a second, but in the corner of his eye, Rin can see Nagisa shuffle a little closer, so close that their knees would bump if Rin uncrossed his legs. He's glad the cinema is dark when his cheeks start to flush with the thought.

He's always found Nagisa to be pretty cute, especially when they were younger. But it's a different kind of cute now. The kind that gives him butterflies if he thinks about it too long.

 

Sousuke's bulk at Haru's side is so deceptively similar to Makoto's that he's almost tricked into relaxing. But every time he gets comfortable enough to lean back and relax, he notices that arm that's _not_ Makoto's and that dark hair and those stern eyes that just make him sit bolt upright again. Sousuke's leaning on the armrest between their seats, which Haru has no problem with. It's the fact that his whole body is angled towards Haru that's unnerving him a little. There's some rational part of him telling him that it's just to make room for his long legs in the narrow row, but that hardly makes him feel better when his giant hand keeps reaching over to take popcorn from the bucket in his lap.

Haru chews slowly, making small movements so as not to startle or aggravate the man next to him, like he's some kind of predatory monster. He chances another glance at him, only to find looking at him with a smile he wants to call _dopey_ (for reasons he decides to blame on Nagisa).

"What?" he hisses.

"Nothing," Sousuke shrugs, grabbing another handful of popcorn. "Look at those two."

He nods towards Nagisa and Rin and Haru turns, fighting the smile at what he sees.

Rin's always been more receptive to affection, which is probably why he's always gotten on with Nagisa so well. Haru's not even surprise to find Nagisa leaning against Rin with Rin's arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"They're cute, right?" Sousuke whispers.

"If you say so."

But they are. And there's something going on in that bucket.

 

Every time Rin reaches in for more popcorn, Nagisa's hand is there, just tickling with his fingers or brushing against the back, but Rin's starting to think it's intentional. He quashes his own ego telling him _maybe Nagisa likes him_ , because of course Nagisa likes him. They've been friends for so long. But maybe, just maybe? this is that different kind of like.

He goes for another few pieces and pops them in his mouth, bringing his hand back before Nagisa can remove his. He takes another chance at lacing their fingers together and this time doesn't pull away. Nagisa's palm is slightly sweaty. Nerves? He looks up at Rin with this worried little smile on his lips. He's had his other arm wrapped comfortably around Nagisa's shoulders for quite some time now, but this is different. Somehow more... intimate.

He squeezes his hand in some hope that it's encouraging, and to his relief, Nagisa squeezes back in some acknowledgement. He leans his head more against Rin's shoulder, just close enough for Rin to duck down and touch his nose to his hair in an affectionate nuzzle. He has that too-sweet scent similar to the sugary popcorn he's been ignoring.

Rin can feel Haru watching them, in that way Haru's gaze has such a pointed weight to it, but he chooses to ignore him. He can think what he likes. It's not like he ever has to know that they're holding hands in the popcorn bucket. Nagisa still has a hand free to reach in and feed himself more. There's no stopping this kid when it comes to food.

Rin nudges him again with his nose. "Oi," he whispers. "Feed me?"

He takes the piece of popcorn from Nagisa's fingers delicately with his teeth.

"Don't bite me, Rin-chan."

"Don't push your luck."


End file.
